Electron beams have an inherent energy spread that describes a range of energies possessed by electrons within the beam. The resolution of an electron beam system may be limited by a range of factors including diffraction, aberrations, and Coulomb interactions between electrons in the beam. The dominant limitation of the resolution in a given electron beam system is generally dependent on the physical design of the system as well as the beam size and path through the system, the latter of which may vary depending on the specific application. For example, resolution in high beam current applications are typically dominantly limited by Coulomb interactions between electrons in the beam and by spherical aberrations associated with relatively large beam diameters. In contrast, resolution of low-current applications is typically limited by the energy spread of the electron beam. The energy spread can limit the performance of an electron beam system in a variety of ways, such as reducing the resolution through chromatic aberrations, degrading image uniformity across a field of view, limiting the allowable beam tilt angle for wall information of a wafer fixture in a review system, and introducing energy-dispersion effects that lead to a reduction of resolution in a Wien filter used to split secondary electrons from primary electrons in the system. It is therefore desirable to develop systems and methods to limit the energy spread of an electron beam source, particularly for high-resolution applications.